Stanley Liphadzi

Sustainability of shared freshwater resources in the South Africa

Dialogue on Water Governance 2015 , Fortaleza, Brazil, November 2015

Water in South Africa and SADC

• Water is a scarce resource.

• Mean annual precipitation is about 500 mm

• The Eastern and South parts of the country receive more rainfall.

• Water quality worsen our H2O challenges.

A drought prone region

Observed and simulated datasets were used

Other Challenges• Like many developing nations, SA has to strike a

balance between water resource use and protection.

• In pursuit of its development agenda, the country has encountered several water challenges.

• The most concern of them all is water (Quality, .... which cannot be separated from Quantity in South Africa)

• What use to bring certain kind of relief as solution…… are now of little use!

Water Resources protection related policies

National DepartmentsW&S

EA Land

Agric M&E LG

H2O Quality & Quantity 4 2 0 0 1 1

Ecosystems & Biodiversity 4 3 0 0 0 0

Land Care 3 1 1 1 0 2

Env. Pollution 1 2 0 0 3 1

How much is enough – policies?

• The departs responsible with water and environment developed several policies aimed at challenges relating to water and the env.

• The main ones are National Water Act (NWA), National Environmental Management Act (NEMA), National Water Service Act.

• How many more should we have? How many amendments do we need?

• We always say, everybody “lives downstream”, -Water management should be focused on the whole catchment/basin.

• We look at policies for guidance to abate water and env. problems. …….. is it where the solutions are?

• We always say, everybody “lives downstream”, -Water management should be focused on the whole catchment/basin.

• We look at policies for guidance to abate water and env. problems. …….. is it where the solutions are?

We have unequal society (in socio-economic terms), which compels decision makers to be pro- poor and the voiceless.

Olifants WMA as a case study area

Olifants

The Olifants Water Management Area• The Olifants WMA has a surface area of

approximately 54 550 km2. • Comprised of secondary catchments with

significant variations in climate, water availability, level and nature of economic development, and population density.

Land Cover/ Use

• The major land uses are, agriculture, afforestation, livestock and game farming, and mining.

• The eastern portion of the catchment is under conservation (KNP).

Conditions of Water Resources

Mostly:•Reduced Flows / over-abstraction (quantity)•Pollution (quality)

Water requirements in the Olifants WMA

Quantity & Reconciliation

This overall water resources situation shows that the catchment is in deficit of 192 M m3/a

Availability/ Use

Upper Olifants

Middle Olifants Steelpoort

Lower Olifants Total

Total local yield 238 210 61 100 609Transfers in 171 92 0 1 264Grand Total Water Availability 409 302 61 101 873Use Irrigation 44 336 69 108 557Urban 62 15 3 7 87Rural 6 28 6 5 45Mining and industrial 20 13 17 43 93Power Generation 181 0 0 0 181Afforestation 1 0 1 1 3Total requirements 314 392 96 164 966Transfers out 96 3 0 0 8Grand Total Required 410 395 96 164 974

Balance -1 -93 -35 -63 -192

Environmental Flow Requirements

The Reserve and Water Use licensing

Water quality is a neglected part of the Reserve

• The declining water quality in the Olifants WMA is related to:– Acid-mine drainage, – Increased mining activity in the upper

catchment,– Poor waste-water and sewerage treatment

plants.

• People, industries, and the ecosystems are negatively impacted by poor water quality

TDS conc

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

2 4 5 14 15 18 19 21 23 26 27

Site Number

To

tal D

isso

lved

Sal

ts (

mg

/litr

e)

R 6R 2 R 4 R 8

Max

95%75%

50%

25%

5%

Min

TDS concentrations above 1000 mg/litre indicate water exceeds CEV for aquatic ecosystems and domestic uses

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

2 4 5 14 15 18 19 21 23 26 27

Site Number

To

tal D

isso

lved

Sal

ts (

mg

/litr

e)

R 6R 2 R 4 R 8

Max

95%75%

50%

25%

5%

Min

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

2 4 5 14 15 18 19 21 23 26 27

Site Number

To

tal D

isso

lved

Sal

ts (

mg

/litr

e)

R 6R 2 R 4 R 8

Max

95%75%

50%

25%

5%

Min

Max

95%75%

50%

25%

5%

Min

TDS concentrations above 1000 mg/litre indicate water exceeds CEV for aquatic ecosystems and domestic uses

TDS concentrations above 1000 mg/litre indicate water exceeds CEV for aquatic ecosystems and domestic uses

Sulphate conc.

CEV = Chronic Effective Value

N:P ratio

0

100

200

300

400

2 4 5 14 15 18 19 21 23 26 27

843 1670 427

Site Number

Ino

rgan

ic N

: P

Rat

io

513

Max

95%75%

50%

25%

5%

Min

R 2 R 4 R 6 R 8

1287211

An Inorganic N:P Ratio lower than 10 (plus elevated PO4-P concentrations) indicates probable eutrophicconditions with dominance by cyanobacteria

0

100

200

300

400

2 4 5 14 15 18 19 21 23 26 27

843 1670 427

Site Number

Ino

rgan

ic N

: P

Rat

io

513

Max

95%75%

50%

25%

5%

Min

Max

95%75%

50%

25%

5%

Min

R 2 R 4 R 6 R 8

1287211

An Inorganic N:P Ratio lower than 10 (plus elevated PO4-P concentrations) indicates probable eutrophicconditions with dominance by cyanobacteria

An Inorganic N:P Ratio lower than 10 (plus elevated PO4-P concentrations) indicates probable eutrophicconditions with dominance by cyanobacteria

SO4:Cl ratio

0

5

10

15

20

25

1 3 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 16 17 20 22 24 25 R 9 R 10

Su

lph

ate

: C

hlo

rid

e R

atio

Site Number

Max

95%75%

50%

25%

5%

Min

381494463 1176

SO4 : Cl ratio values above 5.0 indicate definite mining and / or industrial effluent influences water quality

0

5

10

15

20

25

1 3 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 16 17 20 22 24 25 R 9 R 10

Su

lph

ate

: C

hlo

rid

e R

atio

Site Number

Max

95%75%

50%

25%

5%

Min

Max

95%75%

50%

25%

5%

Min

381494463 1176

SO4 : Cl ratio values above 5.0 indicate definite mining and / or industrial effluent influences water quality

SO4 : Cl ratio values above 5.0 indicate definite mining and / or industrial effluent influences water quality

Mining & power generation

…..is the support sufficient!

ARE POLICY INSTRUMENT (STILL) APPROPRIATE?•Relevancy•Reliability•Backed by new Scientific evidence

IMPLEMENTATION PLAN?•HR?

– Monitoring and Evaluation

– Compliance

•Transforming structures•Legal system•Political will

Key Success Areas

Strengthen Implementation• Improve competency• Have sufficient human

capacity• Have required tools for the

job• Strengthen knowledge

uptake capacity.• Review and improve all

your instruments (legal, technical, governance, etc.)

Improve understanding• Innovative research• Contextualization and• Operationalization of

knowledge.• Strengthen basin/catchment

based management effort;• Improve monitoring and

reporting systems• Enforce compliance all the

time

• Innovative research• Contextualization and• Operationalization of

knowledge.• Strengthen basin/catchment

based management effort;• Improve monitoring and

reporting systems• Enforce compliance all the

time

The rainfall datasets are needed for planning and proper management of water resources

• We used to have >2000 stations.

• Currently, we have less than 700 stations.

• We need to revamp our monitoring networks

Wor

king

wea

ther

st

ation

s

Years

700Stations700Stations

Types of Water Use (revised) – Linked to pricing Strat

Ecological Infrastructure as the only hope for Low & Middle-Income Economies

Years

Valu

e

Ecological

Built

Governance is key in achieving Sustainable Growth and Dev.

Conclusions• We need to stop to approach natural resources

management from a single-domain perspective. • Poorly implemented Policies and Strategies

(although attractive) are as good as not having them.

• Investment in R&D and capacity building is insufficient.

• Partnership with the regional and global community is a necessity.

Thank you